What a mess!

[Cthebird]

I say.

I'm new to macaw ownership. I have a Hahn's macaw. We let him climb all over the top of his cage, and on the play gym, which is right next to it. The play gym also has food and water cups and toys. Well, food and toy remnants get tossed halfway across our bedroom, where he resides. Water gets tossed onto the wall, or rather a piece of bird themed artwork covered with glass. At least it has glass so I can wipe it down. There used to be a canvas print of Amy Winehouse above his cage, but it is pretty much permanently taken down, because he loves to chew on the bottom of it.

I love that he has plenty of out of cage roam time, but in addition to the throwing of food and water, he always seems to take a dump over the side of the play gym and cage instead of on them. I have taken to placing an old ratty towel in front of the cage and play gym. I'd rather the poop fall there than directly onto the bedroom rug. It's strange because when he's with us (often on the bed), he poops on demand 95% of the time over paper towels and almost NEVER on the bed or us (thank goodness)!

Is there any way to train him NOT to poop over the edge of the play gym and top of cage? Or should I just keep the ratty towel in place forever?

We are now permanently keeping our small vacuum cleaner in our bedroom, and have bought a steam vacuum, as well. We didn't always vacuum every day, but now we have to. Plus, his play gym is always a mess in less than a couple of hours.

He's just a little macaw, but creates a huge havoc!

 

[Flboy]

Um, sounds like he wants to keep his play area clean! Wouldn’t you do the same?

 

[chris-md]

That’s parrot ownership, get used to it. Welcome to the club!

 

[PrimorandMoxi]

We vacuum three times a day.

you need some type of cleanable surface under cage and play stand.

linoleum or something.

also in polite company we don't say "take a dump"
we say droppings or pinch a loaf.

 

[wrench13]

or Blast a Dookie. Once you know his pooping habbits, you can change the set up to your advantage. We have hardwood floors where Salty's daytime boing is, and he likes to blast one off there. To preserve the floor and not let the poop into the grain of the wood we put a office style chair pad under the boing. Clean up is really easy because the surface is really smooth plastic. I love Hans macaws, they are so cute!

 

[Jerseyjeff62]

I use a office chair plastic mat under the cage over the rug


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[GaleriaGila]

There's only one King per Kingdom...
Sounds like you're not it!
Precious!

 

[tashawithanekkie]

Yeah, sounds like your towel needs to stay there. Maybe find another, so you can rotate them out to wash them when you need to. I had to cut up a couple of old towels to put on the stairs, otherwise I'd be wiping poo off of them constantly.

What species was it that projectile poops?

 

[Kiwibird]

My bird loves pooping over the side of his cage too. He seems to prefer it to pooping inside his cageI used to use cheap rugs but they drove me nuts how they puckered under the weight of the cage.

My solution? HUGE piece of MDF (plywood would work too), measured to give enough extra space to catch any poo from any vantage point. Then I used cheap peel and stick vinyl tiles on the top (linoleum from a roll would also work, but I found it to be more expensive than the tiles). Voila! An easy to clean carpet protector that cost maybe $30/40 bucks and doesn't pucker under the weight of the cage. I clean it every morning before he gets up and it's easy to chip the dried-overnight poop up with a dedicated plastic paint scraper, vacuum it away then wipe clean any residue

Parrots are, hands down, the messiest creatures out there! So small, so cute but SO messy! No such thing as a "clean" parrot. Food, poop, feathers, dander, wood chips from toys... I can clean Kiwi in the morning and by noon it looks like he hasn't been cleaned in a month. It is what it is and literally every parrot owner is up against a perpetual mess. It never ends

 

[Kiwibird]

What species was it that projectile poops?

Softbill species that eat lots of fruit and/or nectar- lorikeets, toucans and a few others.

 

[Billdore]

I use newspaper, and prefer the term venting, my baby is too cute for pooing but watch out for that morning blast lol.

 

[LordTriggs]

unsurprising that he does that. The cage is the nest where no pooping should be in the wild and the playgym is his perch which once again they don't like to go on, why poo on his own stuff when there's a perfectly good toilet A.K.A floor to go on!

a hard material is definitely for the best, a cheap beat of lino flooring cut neatly will be the best bet

 

[Cthebird]

Sorry about my description of his not so little droppings. He is a Hahn's macaw.

Well, I guess there is no way to train him to do his sweet little business in a desired place. I like the idea of the mat for office chairs, but my husband doesn't want anything like that. I don't see how we have a choice unless we keep the ratty towel or just keep cleaning up his delightful stuff.

 

[LordTriggs]

Sorry about my description of his not so little droppings. He is a Hahn's macaw.

Well, I guess there is no way to train him to do his sweet little business in a desired place. I like the idea of the mat for office chairs, but my husband doesn't want anything like that. I don't see how we have a choice unless we keep the ratty towel or just keep cleaning up his delightful stuff.

there are ways but they're not overnight miracles and even then accidents do happen. Any particular reason he's against a small mat being in front of the cage? If not is there a hard floor room he could be moved to? (husband or bird, either is applicable!)

 

[Cthebird]

Oh, LordTriggs. Banishing my husband to the kitchen would be tough on my marriage

My husband has his strange thoughts on things. I guess he just thinks the mat would be ugly. I guess I can stick with the towel and then remove it when hubby gets home. Usually when hubby is home my little bird guy is either with us (and he's good about doing his stuff on demand) or in his cage.

I like having my guy in my bedroom with me. My bedroom is large and I do all of my work in the bedroom during the day. I work from home. Being in the same room allows my guy and I to see each other. all day Allows him a lot of out of cage time, which he loves. Also allows me to have him with me a lot when I work. I take breaks and play with him and pet him. You can imagine sometimes he demands play time with me so I put my laptop aside or give him toys to occupy him while I type. He's pretty lucky to have several hours with me each day. He's my little boy.

I am sort of teasing him about his messiness. I absolutely adore my Hahn's macaw. He is so affectionate and funny. He brightens my days so much!

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[Kiwibird]

Here's what we have under Kiwi's cage. I think it's pretty nice looking myself Doesn't have to be ugly if you put in a little effort in picking nice color flooring and since it would be a very small area to cover, you could even get something far nicer than peel and stick tiles like I used!

 

[LordTriggs]

haha well he should know he comes second now! All of us males must learn the words "yes dear" or our lives become hell!

I get his thinking, see if you can sneak a nice something underneath the cage sometime? See how he takes to it. I know I think stuff will look ugly until it's all in place. I also know how you feel about the mess! My place is a 2-storey apartment with the second floor being open plan with the first floor (like a balcony) so my conure had free reign of the whole place when out and he often liked hanging out on the railing overlooking the downstairs and of course would poop all over the upstairs carpet. Never on the hard wood floor! grrr

I took the option of acceptance in the end. It made life easier on me

Kiwibird that set-up is awesome! I may try making something similar when (if) I get myself a new friend. I love the curtain behind the cage

 

[Cthebird]

Kiwibird, I agree with you and that that mat is nice-looking. May I ask where you bought it? I like that it looks like there is some trim around it.

 

[Jaime1215]

Here's what we have under Kiwi's cage. I think it's pretty nice looking myself Doesn't have to be ugly if you put in a little effort in picking nice color flooring and since it would be a very small area to cover, you could even get something far nicer than peel and stick tiles like I used!

I love this!! Is that a shower curtain? I feel like it would be much easier to clean than the walls!

 

[Kiwibird]

Kiwibird, I agree with you and that that mat is nice-looking. May I ask where you bought it? I like that it looks like there is some trim around it.

I made it. Very simple project too. Big piece of MDF as the base (measure a few inches out from the cage on all sides), peel and stick vinyl tiles on top (I used a special tape under them that is super sticky to ensure they stay down) and there is trim around it to make it look more finished. I am unsure what the trim type is called, but I got it at Home Depot. It was back near all the moulding and baseboard materials. It's some kind of plastic and kind of "wraps" around the edges. I got all the materials at HD actually. You could probably use even nicer ceramic or porcelain tiles instead of peel and stick if you were so inclined. I was not so inclined to spend the extra money for fancy tiles for my bird to poop on though